A team of scientists
from the Ruhr-Universität Bochum have compiled the largest
astronomical image of all time. The stunning vista is comprised of an
impressive 46 billion pixels, and is so large that the researchers
have provided a special online tool in order to allow viewers to take
in the cosmic scene.

The online tool allows
viewers to observe and zoom in on stunning aspects of the Milky Way
in incredible detail. Users can also search for objects such as stars
and nebulae via the input box on the lower left of the screen, while
being provided with a coordinates and mini map to keep them aware of
exactly where they are in the huge image.

The constituent pieces
of the image were captured over the course of a five-year imaging
campaign carried out by the Ruhr-Universität Bochum researchers as they attempted to
create a catalogue of celestial objects with variable brightness,
such as a star when an exoplanets crosses its stellar disk.

By using telescopes
based in Chile's Atacama desert to shoot the same patches of the
southern sky repeatedly over several days, the team was able to
capture and document 50,000 new variable objects. The astronomers
took several weeks to calculate and combine 268 of the images in
order to create the vast 194-gigabyte galactic mosaic.

You can take a look at
the huge composite image via the online tool, courtesy
of Ruhr-Universität Bochum